Refrigerator



L. G. COPEMAN. REFRIGERATOR.

FILED JUNE 16. 1921.

Feb, 6, 1923.

6 SHEETSSHEET I.

A TTORNEY.

Feb. 6; 1923;

1,444,589. L. e. COPEMAN.

REFRIGERATOR. F ILED JUNE 16. 1921.

(5 SHEETS-SHEET 3'.

INVENTOR. 140/04 (p/ IM? I TTORNEY.

Feb. 6, 1923.

L. G. COPEMAN.

REFRIGERATOR. FILED JUNE 16. 1921.

6 SHEETSSHEET 4- IJY ATTORNEY.

Feb. 6, 1923.

L. G. COPEMAN.

REFRIGERATOR.

FILED JUNEIG, 1921.

6SHEETSSHEL! .Illllll. ||||l|l A TTORNEY.

I teases. Parent casters.

LLOYD GROFFCOPEMAN, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNUR T0 EDWIN W. ATWOPD, 0F

FLINT, MICHIGAN.

REFRIGERATOR.

Application filed June 16, 1921. Serial No. 477,906.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LLOYD GNCOPEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Flint,,in the county of Genesee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new an useful Improvements in Refrigerators, of

i which the following is a specification.

' frigerating unit of this type.

This invention relates to refrigeration, and has for its object an installation that is intended to use well water or other available cold water as a cooling medium for the box. In some of my prior applications, namely, Nos. 438,593 and 440,637, I'have described in detail a refrigerating installation for food preserving boxes and in those applications I have described the general mode of operation, to-wit, the circulation of a chilled water through the box and an automatic control which "regulates the. circulation in accordance with thermal conditions in the box.

The present refrigerating unit works on.

the same plan but the improvement is directedto'and the claims are drawnto an .arrangement and disposition of the coils which make it an eflicient and practical re- Among the featuresof improvement are the following:

The coils are not in series but the. water distribution is divided into an upper and' lower header, the separate sections of coils leading from one header to the other. This eliminates, what would otherwise be a very objectionable back; pressure andwould have an injurious effect upon the use of the water distribution system for ordinary service purposes, as will'be later explained.

The disposition of the coils at the top and bottom of the refrigerator is such as to give them a gradual pitch and the dispo-- sition of the coils that run up and down the sides of the refrigerator is such that each run of pipe declines from end to end. These two features afi'ord adequate security for proper drainage. Otherwise when the box is exposed in frigid weather the water in the coils would freeze and practically ruin the box due to the inability to repair the same. A. refrigerator withexposed coils would be a very unsanitary one and one that would be very hard to clean. With :an ordinary covering for the coils, such as plates or the like, a lar e part of the heat-absorbing properties of t e coils and water contained therein would be lost due to the lack of proper heat conductivity of the surrounding medium. However, to. avoid these objections and present a'neat, cleanable and sightly interior for the box, I provide a stone encasement for the coils. The coils after having been properly located in the box to get the suitable drainage alluded to are completely encased'in a plastic material that soon hardens and sets to form a stone-work which completely covers the coils and provides a smoothsurface for the interior of the box. This stone-work is slightly porous as contradistinguished from a glass enameled interior whichhas no capacity of absorbing moisture. This porosity of the stone-work results in a phenomenon namely, the stonework absorbs moisture when the. cold water remains in a chilled condition and staying off the necessity 'of again circulating the water to re-chill the box. k Still another feature of the stimulation of circulation in the stone-encased box by exposing atjone part of the box some few coils. for the purpose of producing an unbalanced thermal condition in the box to promote circulation. This will be explained in detail.

In the drawings,- I Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of the refrigerator taken from side to side. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken from front to back. o

- Fig. 3 is a horizontal cross section of the box.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the top header. Fig.- 5 is a longitudinal. section of-the top. header and adjacent parts.

Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 5. 1

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the bottom header. Fig 8 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a cross section taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8. i Fig. 10 is a cross section taken on the line 1010 of Fig. 4, showing the thermostat. Fig. 11 is-a diagrammatic view of the in stallation. I V i V Fig. 12 isa fragmentary section-through the stone-work encasement for the coils, Now 'briefly as to the general.operation referring to Fig. 11, the detail of this installation is given in my prior application,

and across: the bottom back tothe lower through either one wire f or the other wire 9 tion,

and operates the motorM that controls the waste valve IL in the waste pipe ii.

-Now referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen there is an upper header 7c and a lower header m. Referring to Figs 4 and 5, it will be seen just how the upper header is constructed. It is a special casting provided at the front and top with a boss at screw-threaded at.its forward end to take the thermostat barrel 0 which screws into it. This has a pipe. thread so as to make it water-tight. This. barrelforms a watertight enclosure for the coiled thermostat band which engages around the spindle g of tlie thermostat. This band p is" in the familiar way made up of two metals, one of a large and the otherof a small coeflicient of expansion. The consequence is that when there is a .therinal change the band either unwinds or winds up, giving a torsional acserving to rotate the electric switch arm 1* (see Fig. 10) attached to the spindle s which is also attached to the end of the coiled thermostatic band p (see Fig.

I '5). This provides-a very sensitive thermostat which is susceptible to very small fluctuations in temperature. In my application -#440,637 I have described in detail the reason for locating the thermostat in the Water line and that feature of the invention .is claimed in that application.

Reverting to the" casting that forms the headerconstruction In, it will be seen that at the front the header is provided with an enlargement t provided with two side pipe .ports a and. two bottom pipe ports '0 (see Fi 6). The back of thecasting' is provi ed with afldip to ports xat either'slde;

The top header has, therefore, six outlet ports.

The two side front outlet ports are for the coils 3 that run front. and bottom g 1 (.Fig. 1)}, Note the-pittllfyhf each run of 1 across the top of the refrigerator from the center to each side and down each side header m). Note the pitch of the coils at the tODIOf he box from the header to 4 each side p p from one end to the ot'er (see Fig. 2).

' etails of the header Now turning to the I I 7:: (Figs... 4 and 5,1, it"will be seen that-.the n outlet ports '4) are for con-' nection with the center partition coils .2.

These run down the center of the box, as

.and front.

provided with pipe When it does draw,

is plainly shown in Fig. 1, and enter the bottom header, as shown in Fig. 2at the top will be apparent that the tWo rear ports w are for the purpose of providing outlet connections with the two sets of rear coils 1 which run downthe rear of the box, zigzagging from the center to the side and back and always. maintaining a declination from one end to the other for the purpose of drainage. In fact, this is the condition of all the coils. Referring to Figs. 7 and 8,

it Will be found that these rearcoils enter .a boss2 on the lower header in much the Again referring to Fig. 5, it

of these coils would be so great to the passage of the water as to very materially affect the pressure in the storage tank 5 (Fig. 11) which is a distribution system of this character. The coils, if not divided, would also create a serious back pressure upon the pump. By divisionthe objections outlined are over come. Furthermore, the specific header design is calculated to provide a very useful easy connection with the pipes to the r and headers.

It will be noticed that theupper header is provided at the front and bottom with a nipple 6 arranged to take the water pipe 7 through which the water enters the header. By referring to Figs. 11 and 8 it will be seen that the'lowerv header has three outlet nipples 8, 9 and 10. The outlet 9 connects with the waste line a; The outlet 10 connects with some service tap or taps fed by a separate service line 11, as indicated in Fig. 11. The outlet storage tank main 12. I

This division of outlets serves a very useful purpose in economi'zing the use of water. The storage tank does 'very often not draw on the pump for replenishment for considerable periods of time, sometimes hours. it draws a considerable amountof water, such an excess over the requirements of the box that a great deal of this water is wasted so far as its function of heat'absorption is" concerned. Hence the waste valve would ordinarily have, to be depended upon during intervals between operations of the storag 'tank. Of course;

all chilling action due-ate the operation of} is water wasted for other the waste valve purposes. Hence by providing the thirdpart of almost every water 8 connects with the would result.

scribed simply hung on the insulated walls of the refrigerator box, not only an unsightly but. an unsanitary food container In order to overcome these objections I encase the major part of both the header constructions and all the coils except one set presently to be noted in the stone-work, which'is first in a plastic condition and sets after the pipes have been suitably covered with it. It will be understood that the pipes havefirst' been properly hung or supported on the rough interior walls of a properly insulated box. The center requires no previously built. partition as the pipes and the stone-work constitute a suitable partition after the same is finished. This stone-work may be formed of several well-known materials and hence it is not necessary to describe it indetail. It may be made out of sand and any suitable cemen-.

titious material. The only characteristics required are thatv it be of a. composition that permits it to be put in place in a plastic condition and then set into a hard condition not easy to fracture. It should also preferably be more or less porous when set for a:

purpose to be explained, and it should also be a good conductor of heat. It is necessary that it be the last for obviously the water could not properly absorb the heat from the interior of the refrigerator without undue waste were not an efficient heat conductor provided. The porosity which I prefer to have in the stone-work has under observation resulted in a peculiar phenomenon. I find that when the water is circulating through the coils due to excess of heat in the interior of the refrigerator, considerable .moisturecondenses on the stone-work and is absorbed to a certain extent by the pores of the stone-work. When the circulation is cut off this water gradually evaporates, As evaporation always requires heat this condition obviously prolongs the period preceding a call for another application of 'cold fluid to re-establish the chilled condition of the box.

In the partition formed by the stonework.

result in the stability of the air. The proper preservation of food can only be obtained exposed to the atmosphere and consequently result in chilling the atmosphere in the upper left hand corner of the refrigerator to a greater extent than at any other point. This obviously starts the circulation necessary to provide the best chilling of the food. Under this set of exposed coils may be provided a drip pan 16 to catch the water of excess condensation.

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, a plurality of coils for circulating fresh cold water therethrough supported in the box and encased in hardened heat-conducting material, and a set of coils for aiding in circulating said water and exposed in one part of the refrigerator to destroy the thermal equilibrium in the interior and promote circulation.

2. In a refrigerator, the combination of abox, a header supported in the box at the center and top and provided at the top with four outlet ports, two 'sets of coils each one running across the top, down one side and across the bottom and connecting with one of said ports, and a second pair of coils running each down through the center of the box and connecting with one of said ports in the header.

3. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, a header supported at the top theretwo i a box, a header supported at the top and T center of the box and provided with an enlargement forming on the sides two eduction ports and on the bottom two eduction ports, two sets of coils attached to the ports at the sides of the enlargement and running 3 across the top, down. the sides and across the bottom of the box, and two sets of coils attached to the ports in the bottom of the'enlargement and running down the center of the box to form a partition.

5. In a; refrigerator, the combination of a box, a headersupported at the top of the box at the center and provided at the front with four eduction ports and at the rear with two eduction ports, separate coil sec- 1 tions connecting two sets with the eduction ports at; the front, running across the top and sides and across the bottom of the refrigerator, two sets connecting with the eduction ports at the front and running down the center of the box, and two sets connecting with the two rear eduction ports and running down the back of the box.

6. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, a top header secured in the top of the box, a bottom header secured in the bottom of the box, each header provided with a plurality of eduction and intake ports, and

a plurality of coil sections connecting with the eduction and induction ports at the top and bottom header.

7. In a refrigerator, the combination of 1 the top and bottom of the box at the center and provided with eduction and intake ports respectively; and separate coils running down across the top, down the sides and across the bottom of the box and connecting with both headers at the front,

' separate coils running down the center of the box and connecting with both headers at the front, and separate coils running down the back of' the box and connecting with both headers at the back.

9, In arefrigerator, the combination of a box, a top header provided with a pair of eduction ports at the front and a pair of eduction. ports at the rear, two sets of coils connecting with the eduction ports at the front and running across the top, down the sides and across the bottom of the box,

and two sets of coils connecting with the eduction ports at the rear of the header and running down at the back of the box.

10. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, a plurality of coilssupported in the box, a header for distributing water to the coils and including a boss, and a thermostat screwing into the boss and serving to regulate the circulation through the coils in accordance with the temperature in said header. Y

11. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, a'plurality of coils supported therein, a header for distributing the cooler in said coils provided with a threaded socket,

and a thermostat and a barrel for encasing same and screwing into said threaded sock et, said thermostat serving to regulate the circulation through the coils in accordance with the temperature of the water in said header.

12. In a refrigerator, the combination of a box, means for conveying water there through, a storage tank, one or'more service taps, a waste line, and means for dividing and conveying the water that is drawn through the refrigerator separately to the storage tank and one or more service taps and to the waste line, for the ified.

13. In a refrigerator, the combination ofa box, coils for circulating water through the box, a lower header into which the purpose specwater from the coils runs, a storage tank,

one or more service taps,a waste line, and separate outlet lines for transmitting water from the header to the storage tank, the waste line' and one or more service taps.

' In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LLOYD GROFF C'OPEMAN. 

